Syria ignores protests over siege of Latakia

A still from a amateur video purportedly showing armoured vehicles and Syrian
troops as they take up positions in Latakia. Photograph: AP

The Syrian government siege of the port city of Latakia has continued for a fourth day, despite demands from regional states that Damascus stop shelling civilian areas and withdraw its forces from the country’s towns and cities.

The violence has drawn condemnation from neighbouring Turkey, which on Monday gave the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, what amounted to an ultimatum to stand down his military from Latakia, or face an unspecified reaction.

The Turkish government on Tuesday denied that it was imposing a buffer zone on its border with northern Syria. However, officials and military leaders have been drafting plans to deal with Syria’s crisis, which shows no signs of abating after more than five months.

Ankara, which had been an ally of Assad’s regime until a fissure between the two states became clear in recent weeks, claimed it had said its “last words” on the Syrian response to the uprising.

The hardening of Turkey’s position was followed on Tuesday by an intervention from the US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, who said the White House was pushing for another round of sanctions against Assad and key regime figures.

Clinton urged other regional critics of the Syrian regime to step up their rhetoric, claiming that the US did not have a lot at stake in Syria. Her comments were interpreted as an attempt to distance the US from its perceived leading role as an international critic, which Damascus has used to support its claim that the instability is the result of a western-led conspiracy.

The Syrian government has again claimed that its military is fighting armed gangs that have infiltrated Latakia and are terrorising locals. The regime has not been specific about the provenance of such groups, but a Ba’ath party official close to the information ministry said jihadists who had fled Libya by sea several months ago were attempting to ignite sectarian chaos.

Local people contacted in Latakia painted a different portrait of a city under siege by regime officials who want to crush dissent. A man from the al-Ramel neighbourhood said: “Today the shabiha (plainclothed armed regime supporters) and security came into the neighbourhood and went around houses.

“They have stolen items when they go in. There are some people who can’t get out because of the checkpoints where they are arresting people; they have lists and no one can tell if they are on it or not. We think there are 40 dead people from the last few days.

“There is provocation by the security forces and shabiha saying ‘Bashar is our God’ and ‘We will teach you about freedom’. It is horrible.”

An activist who called himself Ahmad said: “My family fled to the mountains from Latakia today. Everyone is scared. Most of the citizens in the areas which had protests are out of the city, many of them were gathered by force in the sports city in order to film them and say those are pro-regime people. Early morning gunfire and tanks continued. Many people died but we couldn’t get names.

“There are many snipers on the rooftops around the areas that are besieged. We can see them. Armoured vehicles are still here but they stopped shooting and there is less gunfire. The shabiha and security forces this morning were cleaning the streets, taking any dead bodies and removing bullets and everything. We think they will destroy the neighbourhood. What happened was a massacre, a massacre.”

Radio

Democracy Now
Democracy Now! is an American daily independent syndicated program of news, analysis, and opinion aired by more than 900 radio, television, satellite and cable TV networks in North America.
0

Free Speech Radio News
Free Speech Radio News (or FSRN) is an independently produced half hour daily national and international radio news program focusing on peace and social justice issues in the US and around the world
0

National Public Radio
NPR delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture.
0

Open Democracy
E-zine and discussion forum offering news and opinion articles from established academics and journalists covering current issues in world …
0

Uprising Radio
Uprising Radio was founded in July 2003 by Sonali Kolhatkar, host and lead producer of Uprising. Uprising emphasizes connecting global issues with local ones. Simply informing listeners of the problems in the world and our communities is not enough – we
0